Designed surface modes propagating along hyperbolic metamaterials

We report on surface-wave propagation (SWP) that occurs in semi-infinite hyperbolic metamaterials whose optical axis is set in the interface plane. In practice it is implemented by a multi-layered metal-dielectric nanostructure that is cut normally to the layers. Our theoretical analysis shows that various conditions can be designed enabling distinct regimes of SWP. We concluded that hybridization of SWP polarization leads to tighter confinement near the interface as compared with conventional surface plasmon polaritons. By using the finite-element method (FEM), we demonstrate that the fields are enhanced on the walls of metallic films, and thus minimizing significantly its presence inside …

Engineered surface waves in hyperbolic metamaterials

We analyzed surface-wave propagation that takes place at the boundary between a semi-infinite dielectric and a multilayered metamaterial, the latter with indefinite permittivity and cut normally to the layers. Known hyperbolization of the dispersion curve is discussed within distinct spectral regimes, including the role of the surrounding material. Hybridization of surface waves enable tighter confinement near the interface in comparison with pure-TM surface-plasmon polaritons. We demonstrate that the effective-medium approach deviates severely in practical implementations. By using the finite-element method, we predict the existence of long-range oblique surface waves. This research was fu…

Free-space delay lines and resonances with ultraslow pulsed Bessel beams

We investigate the ultraslow motion of polychromatic Bessel beams in unbounded, nondispersive media. Control over the group velocity is exercised by means of the angular dispersion of pulsed Bessel beams of invariant transverse spatial frequency, which spontaneously emerge from near-field generators. Temporal dynamics in transients and resonances over homogeneous delay lines (dielectric slabs) are also examined.

Controlling the Carrier-Envelope Phase of Few-Cycle Laser Beams in Dispersive Media

During the last decade it has been practicable to achieve a full control of the temporal evolution of the wave field of ultrashort mode-locked laser beams (1). Advances in femtosecond laser technology and nonlinear optics have made possible to tailor the phase and magnitude of the electric field leading to a wide range of new applications in science. Many physical phenomena are dependent directly on the electric field rather than the pulse envelope such as electron emission from ionized atoms (2) and metal surfaces (3), or carrier-wave Rabi-flopping (4). Moreover, attosecond physics is for all practical purposes accessible by using femtosecond pulses with controlled carrier-envelope (CE) ph…

Numerical and experimental investigation of short Au nanorods

The plasmonic properties of Au nanorods (NRs) have been investigated theoretically and experimentally, a system that is of high current interest in relation to various nanophotonics applications. The non-aligned NRs arrays were formed by a seed-mediated growth method that relies on the reduction of metal salt by a weak reduction agent in the presence of preformed metallic seed nanoparticles. We applied the finite-element method to calculations of absorption spectra from gold NRs supported in an aqueous solution. Comparison to experimentally measured spectra is found in a good agreement.

Tapering photonic crystal fibres for supercontinuum generation with nanosecond pulses at 532nm

Experimental results on supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fibre tapers using pump pulses of 7 ns duration at 532 nm are presented. Photonic crystal fibre tapers with the first wavelength of zero dispersion around 532 nm were fabricated. The generation of supercontinuum was investigated in normal and anomalous dispersion regimes. Supercontinuum spectra spanning more than 400 nm in the visible region are reported.

Single-Polarization Double Refraction in Plasmonic Crystals: Considerations on Energy Flow

We examined the optical properties of nanolayered metal-dielectric lattices. At subwavelength regimes, the periodic array of metallic nanofilms demonstrates nonlocality-induced double refraction, conventional positive and as well as negative. In particular, we report on energy-flow considerations concerning both refractive behaviors concurrently. Numerical simulations provide transmittance of individual beams in Ag-TiO2 metamaterials under different configurations. In regimes of the effective-medium theory predicting elliptic dispersion, negative refraction may be stronger than the expected positive refraction. This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness …

Angular spectrum of diffracted wave fields with apochromatic correction.

We report on compensation of diffraction-induced angular dispersion of ultrashort pulses up to a second order. A strategy for chromatic correction profits from high dispersion of kinoform-type zone plates. Ultraflat dispersion curves rely on a saddle point that may be tuned at a prescribed wavelength. Validity of our approach may reach the few-cycles regime.

Nonlocal dispersion anomalies of Dyakonov-like surface waves at hyperbolic media interfaces

Dyakonov-like surface waves (DSWs) propagating obliquely on an anisotropic nanostructure have been theoretically proved in a few cases including 2D photonic crystals and metal-insulator (MI) layered metamaterials. Up to now, the long-wavelength approximation has been employed in order to obtain effective parameters to be introduced in the Dyakonov equation, which is largely restricted to material inhomogeneities of a few nanometers when including metallic elements. Here, we explore DSWs propagating obliquely at the interface between an insulator and a hyperbolic metamaterial, the latter consisting of a 1D MI bandgap grating using realistic slab sizes. We found unexpected favorable condition…

Generation of accelerating beams using nano-scale metallic circular gratings

Spatially accelerating beams that are solutions to the Maxwell equations may propagate along incomplete circular trajectories, after which diffraction broadening takes over and the beams spread out. In this paper we report on numerical simulations that show the conversion of a high-numerical-aperture focused beam into a nonparaxial shape-preserving accelerating beam having a beam-width near the diffraction limit. Beam shaping is induced by a diffractive optical element that consists of a non-planar sub-wavelength grating enabling a Bessel signature.

Plasmon-driven Bessel beams

We report on subwavelength diffraction-free beams with grazing propagation in metal-dielectric devices. The nondiffracting beams are resonantly transmitted through the nanostructured medium leading to light confinement and wave amplification around the beam axis.

Plasmon-driven nondiffracting surface beaming

We introduce diffraction-free plasmonic waves in metal-dielectric surfaces which are the analogue to nondiffracting Bessel beams in free space. By interfering multiple converging plane waves with controlled phase matching, we generate a subwavelength transverse spot located at the boundaries of a 1D plasmonic lattice. The diffraction-free beam is resonantly transmitted through the stratiform medium leading not only to light confinement but also to wave enhancement assisted by surface plasmons polaritons. To conclude, we briefly analyze other types of localized surface modes which were proposed recently.

Diffraction-free beams in thin films

The propagation and transmission of Bessel beams through nano-layered structures has been discussed recently. Within this framework we recognize the formation of unguided diffraction-free waves with the spot size approaching and occasionally surpassing the limit of a wavelength when a Bessel beam of any order n is launched onto a thin material slab with grazing incidence. On the basis of the plane-wave representation of cylindrical waves, a simple model is introduced providing an exact description of the transverse pattern of this type of diffraction-suppressed localized wave. Potential applications in surface science are put forward for consideration. Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MI…

Subwavelength surface waves with zero diffraction

We identified nanostructured devices sustaining out-of-plane nondiffracting beams with near-grazing propagation and a transverse beamwidth clearly surpassing the diffraction limit of half a wavelength. This type of device consists of a planar multilayered metal-dielectric structure with a finite number of films deposited on a solid transparent substrate. We assumed that the nondiffracting beam is launched from the substrate. The construction of the subwavelength diffraction-free beam is attended by plane waves which are resonantly transmitted through the stratified medium. Therefore, light confinement and wave amplification occurs simultaneously. We performed an optimization process concern…

Uniaxial epsilon-near-zero metamaterials: from superlensing to double refraction

We investigated optical properties of nanostructured metal-dielectric multilayered lattices under the conditions of epsilon-near-zero (ENZ), a concept derived from the effective-medium approach (EMA). We theoretically found that the periodic array of metallic nanolayers may exhibit either superlensing driven by broadband canalization from point emitters or single-polarization double refraction, and conventional positive as well as negative, even at subwavelength regimes. For the latter case, we formulated a modified EMA, and subsequently a generalized refraction law, that describes both refractive behaviors concurrently. The modal coupling of plasmonic lattice resonances, and nonlocality in…

Three-dimensional point spread function of multilayered flat lenses and its application to extreme subwavelength resolution

The three-dimensional (3D) point spread function (PSF) of multilayered flat lenses was proposed in order to characterize the diffractive behavior of these subwavelength image formers. We computed the polarization-dependent scalar 3D PSF for a wide range of slab widths and for different dissipative metamaterials. In terms similar to the Rayleigh criterion we determined unambiguously the limit of resolution featuring this type of image-forming device. We investigated the significant reduction of the limit of resolution by increasing the number of layers, which may drop nearly 1 order of magnitude. However, this super-resolving effect is obtained in detriment of reducing the depth of field. Li…

Subwavelength Bessel beams in wire media

Recent progress is emerging on nondiffracting subwavelength fields propagating in complex plasmonic nanostructures. In this paper, we present a thorough discussion on diffraction-free localized solutions of Maxwell’s equations in a periodic structure composed of nanowires. This self-focusing mechanism differs from others previously reported, which lie on regimes with ultraflat spatial dispersion. By means of the Maxwell–Garnett model, we provide a general analytical expression of the electromagnetic fields that can propagate along the direction of the cylinder’s axis, keeping its transverse waveform unaltered. Numerical simulations based on the finite element method support our analytical a…

Differential toolbox to shape dispersion behavior in photonic crystal fibers.

We present an analytical procedure to compute the first derivatives of the propagation constants with respect to several structural parameters in photonic crystal fibers (PCFs). From them we can easily evaluate the same derivatives of other directly related magnitudes. The above derivatives provide the trend of the magnitude at issue, which allows us to take advantage of a gradient-based algorithm to shape the properties of the guiding structure. In this way we implement an optimization process to carry out real inverse design in PCFs. We focus our attention on designing PCFs with a specific chromatic dispersion behavior. Likewise, the same approach makes it possible to analyze their fabric…

Nondiffracting Bessel plasmons.

We report on the existence of nondiffracting Bessel surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), advancing at either superluminal or subluminal phase velocities. These wave fields feature deep subwavelength FWHM, but are supported by high-order homogeneous SPPs of a metal/dielectric (MD) superlattice. The beam axis can be relocated to any MD interface, by interfering multiple converging SPPs with controlled phase matching. Dissipative effects in metals lead to a diffraction-free regime that is limited by the energy attenuation length. However, the ultra-localization of the diffracted wave field might still be maintained by more than one order of magnitude. This research was funded by the Spanish Mini…

Novel prospects in hyperbolic metamaterials: Dyakonov-like surface waves

Energy flow canalization of evanescent cylindrical-vector beams

We analyzed ultra-confined vector beams with radial and azimuthal polarizations which are critically self-governed inside plasmonic metamaterials. We succeeded in the separation of polarization singularities in the fields at the nanoscale. The examined metamaterials are suitable for long-range transport of subwavelength Bessel beams without discernible blurring. These results open the door to develop integrated devices for applications such as the manipulation of polarization and angular momentum of surface-plasmon excitations.

Subwavelength beams with polarization singularities in plasmonic metamaterials

We investigated the diffraction behavior of plasmonic Bessel beams propagating in metal-dielectric stratified materials and wire media. Our results reveal various regimes in which polarization singularities are selectively maintained. This polarization-pass effect can be controlled by appropriately setting the filling factor of the metallic inclusions and its internal periodic distribution. These results may have implications in the development of devices at the nanoscale level for manipulation of polarization and angular momentum of cylindrical vector beams. This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the project TEC2011-29120-C05-01.

Dyakonov surface waves in lossy metamaterials

We analyze the existence of localized waves in the vicinities of the interface between two dielectrics, provided one of them is uniaxial and lossy. We found two families of surface waves, one of them approaching the well-known Dyakonov surface waves (DSWs). In addition, a new family of wave fields exists which are tightly bound to the interface. Although its appearance is clearly associated with the dissipative character of the anisotropic material, the characteristic propagation length of such surface waves might surpass the working wavelength by nearly two orders of magnitude. This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the Project TEC2013-50416-E…

Plasmonic stratified devices for superlensing in the self-focusing regime

We show that diffraction-management of subwavelength scattered fields assisted by metallodielectric heterostructures leads to superresolving imaging. An accurate design of a passive multilayered compound provides nearly aberration-free images with subwavelength resolution out of the canalization regime even using optical paths longer than a wavelength.

Analytical evaluation of chromatic dispersion in photonic crystal fibers

We present a two-dimensional modal approach for the evaluation, in an analytical manner, of chromatic dispersion in any kind of optical fiber. It combines an iterative Fourier technique to compute the propagation constant at any fixed wavelength and an analytical procedure to calculate its derivatives. The proposed formulation takes into account the effective anisotropy of the interfaces and allows us to deal with microstructured fibers, in general, and specifically with realistic photonic crystal fibers (PCFs), including arbitrary spatial refractive-index distributions of dispersive and absorbing materials. This fast and accurate numerical technique is extremely useful for both analysis an…

Diffraction-managed superlensing using plasmonic lattices

Abstract We show that subwavelength diffracted wave fields may be managed inside multilayered plasmonic devices to achieve ultra-resolving lensing. For that purpose we first transform both homogeneous waves and a broad band of evanescent waves into propagating Bloch modes by means of a metal/dielectric (MD) superlattice. Beam spreading is subsequently compensated by means of negative refraction in a plasmon-induced anisotropic medium that is cemented behind. A precise design of the superlens doublet may lead to nearly aberration-free images with subwavelength resolution in spite of using optical paths longer than a wavelength.

Propagation of Dyakonon Wave-Packets at the Boundary of Metallodielectric Lattices

We rigorously analyze the propagation of localized surface waves that takes place at the boundary between a semi-infinite layered metal-dielectric (MD) nanostructure cut normally to the layers and a isotropic medium. It is demonstrated that Dyakonov-like surface waves (also coined dyakonons) with hybrid polarization may propagate in a wide angular range. As a consequence, dyakonon-based wave-packets (DWPs) may feature sub-wavelength beamwidths. Due to the hyperbolic-dispersion regime in plasmonic crystals, supported DWPs are still in the canalization regime. The apparent quadratic beam spreading, however, is driven by dissipation effects in metal. This work was supported by the Spanish Mini…

Some considerations on the transmissivity of trirefringent metamaterials

Nonlocal effects in metal–dielectric (MD) periodic nanostructures may typically be observed when the plasmonic particles and gaps are on the scale of a few tens of nanometers, enabling under certain conditions (succinctly for epsilon near zero) a collimated beam to split into three refracted signals. We developed a method for precisely evaluating the categorized transmissivity in an air/trirefringent metamaterial interface, which uses a fast one-dimensional Fourier transform and finite element solvers of Maxwell’s equations. In periodic arrays of MD nanofilms, it is proved a tunable transmissivity switch of the multirefracted beams under varying angle of incidence and wavelength, while keep…

Considerations on the electromagnetic flow in Airy beams based on the Gouy phase

We reexamine the Gouy phase in ballistic Airy beams (AiBs). A physical interpretation of our analysis is derived in terms of the local phase velocity and the Poynting vector streamlines. Recent experiments employing AiBs are consistent with our results. We provide an approach which potentially applies to any finite-energy paraxial wave field that lacks a beam axis. This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the project TEC2009-11635.

Extremely efficient evaluation of chromatic dispersion in realistic photonic crystal fibers

We present a fast and accurate procedure for the evaluation of chromatic dispersion in photonic crystal fibers. It combines an iterative Fourier technique to compute the propagation constant at any fixed wavelength and an analytical approach to calculate its derivatives.

Surface waves in plasmonic anisotropie media

We investigate the spatial dispersion of hybrid-polarized surface waves excited at the boundary of a semi-infinite layered metal-dielectric nanostructure. We put emphasis in the case that the thickness of a metal layer becomes of the order of the metal skin depth. We demonstrate that the use of the so-called effective medium approximation (EMA) is not justified, in general. For that purpose, we compare the results using the EMA model and numerical simulations based on the finite-element method. We include an analysis of the influence of metallic losses.

Dyakonons in hyperbolic metamaterials

We have analyzed surface-wave propagation that takes place at the boundary between an isotropic medium and a semi-infinite metal-dielectric periodic medium cut normally to the layers. In the range of frequencies where the periodic medium shows hyperbolic space dispersion, hybridization of surface waves (dyakonons) occurs. At low to moderate frequencies, dyakonons enable tighter confinement near the interface in comparison with pure SPPs. On the other hand, a distinct regime governs dispersion of dyakonons at higher frequencies. Full Text: PDF References Z. Ruan, M. Qiu, "Slow electromagnetic wave guided in subwavelength region along one-dimensional periodically structured metal surface", Ap…

Diffraction-free beams with elliptic Bessel envelope in periodic media

We report on discrete, nondiffracting, paraxial beams with a Bessel spatial envelope in 1D periodic structures of dielectric media. Anisotropy of the envelope profile is demonstrated to behave in the same manner as extraordinary waves in uniaxial crystals.

Accelerating wide-angle converging waves in the near field

We show that a wide-angle converging wave may be transformed into a shape-preserving accelerating beam having a beam-width near the diffraction limit. For that purpose, we followed a strategy that is particularly conceived for the acceleration of nonparaxial laser beams, in contrast to the well-known method by Siviloglou et al (2007 Phys. Rev. Lett. 99 213901). The concept of optical near-field shaping is applied to the design of non-flat ultra-narrow diffractive optical elements. The engineered curvilinear caustic can be set up by the beam emerging from a dynamic assembly of elementary gratings, the latter enabling to modify the effective refractive index of the metamaterial as it is arran…

Shaping the supercontinuum spectral profile

We numerically recognize a procedure for shaping, at least to some extent, the spectral profile of the supercontinuum (SC) generated by soft-glass photonic crystal fibers (PCFs). As example, we identify a PCF geometry that provides an ultrawide (over an octave) and very flat SC when pumped with pulsed light parameters corresponding to a commercially available Er-doped femtosecond fiber laser.

Practical formula for the evaluation of high-order multiphoton absorption in thin nonlinear media

We present an analytical formula for the fast and accurate evaluation of nonlinear absorption in materials exhibiting an admixture of different multiphoton processes. This approach is specifically addressed for its use in thin films when the slowly varying envelope approximation applies. The contribution of absorptions of distinct order is conveniently averaged in order to use well-known expressions for a single multiphoton process. In the latter case, therefore, our simple expression is reduced toward the exact solution.

Metamaterial coatings for subwavelength-resolution imaging

Coating lenses are membranes made of materials exhibiting negative index of refraction and deposited on other media with high dielectric constant e 3 . Unfortunately far-field imaging suffers from centrosymmetric aberrations. We propose a simple procedure to compensate partially deviations from ray-tracing perfect imaging in asymmetric metamaterial lenses. We also show that, under some circumstances, coating superlens may recover subwavelength information transmitted in a relative spatial spectrum ranging from 1 to √e 3 .

Ultrathin high-index metasurfaces for shaping focused beams

The volume size of a converging wave, which plays a relevant role in image resolution, is governed by the wavelength of the radiation and the numerical aperture (NA) of the wavefront. We designed an ultrathin (λ/8 width) curved metasurface that is able to transform a focused field into a high-NA optical architecture, thus boosting the transverse and (mainly) on-axis resolution. The elements of the metasurface are metal-insulator subwavelength gratings exhibiting extreme anisotropy with ultrahigh index of refraction for TM polarization. Our results can be applied to nanolithography and optical microscopy. Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MEC) (TEC2013-50416-EXP).

Three-dimensional point spread function and generalized amplitude transfer function of near-field flat lenses.

We derive a nonsingular, polarization-dependent, 3D impulse response that provides unambiguously the wave field scattered by a negative-refractive-index layered lens and distributed in its image volume. By means of a 3D Fourier transform, we introduce the generalized amplitude transfer function in order to gain a deep insight into the resolution power of the optical element. In the near-field regime, fine details containing some depth information may be transmitted through the lens. We show that metamaterials with moderate absorption are appropriate for subwavelength resolution keeping a limited degree of depth discrimination.

Highly localized accelerating beams using nano-scale metallic gratings

Spatially accelerating beams are non-diffracting beams whose intensity is localized along curvilinear trajectories, also incomplete circular trajectories, before diffraction broadening governs their propagation. In this paper we report on numerical simulations showing the conversion of a high-numerical-aperture focused beam into a nonparaxial shape-preserving accelerating beam having a beam-width near the diffraction limit. Beam shaping is induced near the focal region by a diffractive optical element that consists of a non-planar subwavelength grating enabling a Bessel signature. This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the project TEC2011-29120…

Metasurfaces for colour printing

We present a theoretical analysis and experimental evidences of metasurfaces based on particle resonators that achieve bright-field colour prints. We created pixels that support individual colours, miniaturized and juxtaposed at the optical diffraction limit. Different strategies are followed to offer the flexibility of using both transmitting and epi (reflective) white light sources. We discuss their potential applications in large-volume colour printing via nanoimprint lithography.

Octave-spanning ultraflat supercontinuum with soft-glass photonic crystal fibers

We theoretically identify some photonic-crystal-fiber structures, made up of soft glass, that generate ultrawide (over an octave) and very smooth supercontinuum spectra when illuminated with femtosecond pulsed light. The design of the fiber geometry in order to reach a nearly ultraflattened normal dispersion behavior is crucial to accomplish the above goal. Our numerical simulations reveal that these supercontinuum sources show high stability and no significant changes are detected even for fairly large variations of the incident pulse. Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (TEC2008-05490) and Generalitat Valenciana (GV/2007/043).

Supercontinuum spectral control

Supercontinuum (SC) generation in photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) is a cutting-edge phenomenon extensively studied in recent years [1]. SC has found many scientific and technological applications. The control of the SC spectral characteristics is crucial in most of them. A pioneering attempt in this direction was reported in Ref. [2]. We point out that SC is typically generated by accessing the anomalous dispersion regime of the fiber, i.e., when the group velocity dispersion (GVD) coefficient is lower than zero, β 2 ≪0. The recent achievement of soft-glass PCFs, namely, PCFs made up of a transparent material that shows higher nonlinear response than the widely used fused silica, opens new p…

Dyakonov-like surface waves in semi-infinite metal-dielectric lattices

We demonstrated the existence of Dyakonov-like surface waves propagating at the boundary between a metal-insulator lattice and an isotropic dielectric. A range of propagation angles substantially greater than that for conventional birefringent materials is obtained, and with reasonably small losses.

Left-handed metamaterial coatings for subwavelength-resolution imaging

We report on a procedure to improve the resolution of far-field imaging by using a neighboring high-index medium that is coated with a left-handed metamaterial. The resulting plot can also exhibit an enhanced transmission by considering proper conditions to retract backscattering. Based on negative refraction, geometrical aberrations are considered in detail since they may cause a great impact in this sort of diffraction-unlimited imaging by reducing its resolution power. We employ a standard aberration analysis to refine the asymmetric configuration of metamaterial superlenses. We demonstrate that low-order centrosymmetric aberrations can be fully corrected for a given object plane. For su…

Diffraction-free propagation of subwavelength light beams in layered media

Self-collimation of tightly localized laser beams demonstrated in periodic media relies on a perfect-matched rephasing of the Fourier constituents of the wavefield induced by a plane isofrequency curve. An alternate way paved for the achievement of such a phase matching condition developed a suitable spatial filtering in order to select those frequencies experiencing the same phase velocity projected over a given orientation. In principle this procedure is valid for complex structured metamaterials. However, a great majority of studies have focused on free-space propagation leading to the well-known Bessel beams. This paper is devoted to the analysis of this sort of nondiffracting beams tra…

Substantial enlargement of angular existence range for Dyakonov-like surface waves at semi-infinite metal-dielectric superlattice

We investigated surface waves guided by the boundary of a semi-infinite layered metal-dielectric nanostructure cut normally to the layers and a semi-infinite dielectric material. Using the Floquet-Bloch formalism, we found that Dyakonov-like surface waves with hybrid polarization can propagate in dramatically enhanced angular range compared to conventional birefringent materials. Our numerical simulations for an Ag-GaAs stack in contact with glass show a low to moderate influence of losses. This research was funded by the Qatar National Research Fund under the project NPRP 09-462-1-074, by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the project TEC2009-11635, and by the Serbia…

Oblique surface waves at an interface between a metal–dielectric superlattice and an isotropic dielectric

We investigate the existence and dispersion characteristics of surface waves that propagate at an interface between a metal–dielectric superlattice and an isotropic dielectric. Within the long-wavelength limit, when the effective-medium (EM) approximation is valid, the superlattice behaves like a uniaxial plasmonic crystal with the main optical axes perpendicular to the metal–dielectric interfaces. We demonstrate that if such a semi-infinite plasmonic crystal is cut normally to the layer interfaces and brought into contact with a semi-infinite dielectric, a new type of surface mode can appear. Such modes can propagate obliquely to the optical axes if favorable conditions regarding the thick…

Diffraction-managed superlensing using metallodielectric heterostructures

We show that subwavelength diffracted wave fields may be managed inside multilayered plasmonic devices to achieve ultra-resolving lensing. For that purpose we first transform both homogeneous waves and a broad band of evanescent waves into propagating Bloch modes by means of a metal/dielectric (MD) superlattice. Beam spreading is subsequently compensated by means of negative refraction in a plasmon-induced anisotropic effective-medium that is cemented behind. A precise design of the superlens doublet may lead to nearly aberration-free images with subwavelength resolution in spite of using optical paths longer than a wavelength. This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and…